POLICE are investigating a possible sighting in the Birmingham area of Tammy Leanne Lane, 15, who disappeared shortly after visiting an internet chatroom.

POLICE are investigating a possible sighting in the Birmingham area of Tammy Leanne Lane, 15, who disappeared shortly after visiting an internet chatroom.

She has not been seen since Wednesday when she left her Brynmawr home. Her parents spent the weekend waiting by the telephone and sitting beside another daughter, Kirsty, in hospital.

On Thursday Tammy's 10-year-old sister was taken to hospital with a dislocated hip after falling from her bunk bed.

Officers suspect Tammy may have used computers in her local library to visit internet chatrooms and arrange a meeting with a person she met online.

An internet safety campaigner last night called for a debate about access to chatrooms from library computers.

Tammy's parents spoke this weekend of how they felt torn between waiting for her to call and wanting to be with Kirsty in hospital.

Her father, Andrew Lane, 42, said, "I want to be there, with her, in hospital. But at the same time I want to be here by the phone, waiting for news about Tammy or for her to call.

"Even though she is the eldest she is still my baby."

Inspector Ian Thomas of Gwent Police said that officers were heading to the Wolverhampton area after a possible sighting of the teenager there yesterday.

Police have also not ruled out their earlier theory that she is in the Cardiff area.

A spokesman said, "We are keeping all lines of inquiry open."

Experts are being brought in to study her computer use and her mobile phone records.

Peter Clarke, 16, her boyfriend of two years, told police she used the internet aliases of Kimberley and Dawn.

Sangeet Bhullar of Wales- based internet safety group Wise Kids said, "I know that different libraries have different policies with respect to whether chat room services are blocked or not, and I believe that some allow them, and some block them.

"There needs to be more debate around this issue and a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of libraries and the people who access the services available."

Although Tammy has previously run away to the Splott area of Cardiff she has always returned home. This time she has packed clothes and her phone.

Her mother, Michelle French, 33, said, "She has been having a lot of text messages from people she met on the internet."

Tammy's parents reported her missing after she was last seen by a family friend and local shopkeeper in Brynmawr early on Wednesday.

Tammy told the friend at the shop that she was travelling to Birmingham to meet a family member, but she has no relatives in the West Midlands.

Tammy is described as 5ft 7in with a fresh complexion, blue eyes, and shoulder-length blonde hair, and may have been carrying a handbag or small rucksack. Anyone who may have seen her in the Brynmawr area, or Cardiff bus and train station, contact Ebbw Vale police on 01495 350999.